Dear PASCAL friends,

I am writing to advise you that the PASCAL website has been redeveloped and is now available to support a new phase of PASCAL activity.

http://www.obs-pascal.com

The range and character of PASCAL's services and networks has developed considerably since the website was first launched, and we anticipate that the new site will facilitate better understanding of PASCAL's scope, and improved access to its resources.

There has been a great deal happening for PASCAL over the past six months, and here are the highlights, further details of which are found on the new site.

PASCAL at Pecs

Planning is well advanced for the next PASCAL conference, to be held at Pecs, Hungary, from Sunday 23 September until Wednesday 26 September 2007. A significant number of papers were submitted for refereeing for the conference, and it promises to be an exciting time. Further details and registration forms are available from the  PASCAL website.

View Details: http://www.obs-pascal.com/node/484

New Hot Topic

A new Hot Topic by David Adams entitled ‘The Policy Implications of Creating Virtual Communities analyses - through the lens of a case study from Victoria Australia – how the idea of community strengthening has been embedded into the institutional apparatus of a regional government. This is largely an insider’s account of the emergence of the community paradigm. The focus is on describing the key themes and the policy apparatus that has emerged to give public administrative form to the idea of stronger communities. Throughout the paper David Adams provides links to the key documents which provide the technical discussions of how the public policy and public administration of community is playing out in Victoria.

View Paper: http://www.obs-pascal.com/node/495

Demonstration Projects

A number of projects under PASCAL's auspices are underway. LILARA (see http://www.lililaraproject.com) and PENR3L (see http://www.penr3l.feek.pte.hu/) are now well advanced. The most recent involves investigation of the possibilities for community to be engaged with curriculum development in a schools regeneration project in Victoria, Australia. More information about the projects is available from the website.

View Projects: http://www.obs-pascal.com/demo

PASCAL Associates

The PASCAL Advisory Board has invited more than 30 leaders in research and policy development to become PASCAL Associates. This is a wonderful development as it will enable PASCAL to support relevant projects in various parts of the world with outstanding expertise. In addition, they will contribute as PASCAL ambassadors, sharing information and news about PASCAL's activities with regional authorities and others whom might want to become subscribers. The details of PASCAL Associates will soon be available on the website.

Becoming a Subscriber

The PASCAL Advisory Board has also reviewed the subscription framework for organisations to become members of PASCAL. PASCAL services are intended principally for regional authorities, so that the subscription pricing is now structured so as to maximise subscribers' access to services and resources on terms that work for all parties. Universities are also invited to become members of PASCAL, as a means of engaging a wider number of researchers in supporting PASCAL's aims to link cutting edge research with pressing policy issues. Details of these services are available to all who are interested

In conclusion, we are delighted that the new website is operational and hope that you enjoy the new content - and over the next month or so, this will be expanded dramatically, especially in access to more general resources.

We look forward to closer contact with you.

For further information in addition to the website, please feel free to contact Mary Serafim at our Melbourne office pascal@obs-pascal.com or Lyana MacInnes in Stirling pascal@stir.ac.uk

Best wishes,

Chris Duke, CEO;
Mike Osborne (Stirling)
Bruce Wilson (RMIT), Co-Directors

http://www.obs-pascal.com/people